Bill Snyder spoke with the media today as part of Kansas State's Football weekly Tuesday press conference. In our 'He said, we say," piece we break down what Snyder said - quote by quote - to look for meaning.
NOTE: There is some level of paraphrasing used on all of these quotes from Snyder. A full, accurate transcript will also be provided later.
On the players only meeting...
He Said: If it's going to be productive I think it's appropriate. I trust Dalton. Dalton wanted to talk with the players and elicit thoughts from the players at the same time. We've done it before. You have to have a great deal of trust in your players to consent, to allow that to happen. They have control over where they get together or not. I think it went well from what I've heard.
We Say: We asked Risner the question on the players' only meeting after hearing it had happened earlier this week. Probably a good time for it. Was also happy to hear Snyder say the players have the right to do it after first mentioning giving his consent for it, as that's what a players only meeting should be, for the players and not involving the coaching staff.
Your run game was really good last week, can you talk on the run game...
He Said: I think we played better. I think we practiced better and are getting more acclimated to what we are doing. Execution gets better and fundamentals get better. That happens when you practice as well as you can. The scout squad has a big impact on that, too. I thought our scout squad last week did a nice job.
We Say: Run game was certainly better last week, no doubt. A big part of it, too, was a Baylor defense playing just six men in the box regularly and paying (too much?) respect to K-State's passing game. Will be interesting to see how it will work this week against a team that will probably be more aggressive attacking the line of scrimmage.
You've made a ton of improvements on defense, but tackling was rough last week. Can you talk about tackling...
He Said: I don't think being "good enough" is an issue. We don't have guys that are un-aggressive. We have guys who will hit you. We're just not as good at it as we could be or should be. We're reachers, running with our hands out. And you won't make a lot of tackles that way. We work on it every single day, yet it's not getting there.
We Say: I don't expect a coach to knock the talent of his players - Snyder shouldn't do that publicly and gave a good answer here - but the reason K-State struggles to tackle is in large part due to the first thing he said it's not because of, being good enough. That's the biggest issue as it comes to K-State's tackling, having enough physical, athletic players who swarm to the football.
Special teams have been so great for you in the past and made such a difference, can you talk on this year's special teams...
He Said: It's not just the guy fumbling the ball; we missed two blocks. If you get a few guys banged up on offense and defense you can get around that, but those are all guys on special teams. We're searching and reaching to get enough personnel.
We Say: Agree with Snyder completely on the lack of depth, that's the biggest problem with special teams as well as the issues on the rest of the team - like the tackling question above. K-State doesn't have enough talented depth on this roster due to recruiting emphasis.
On preparing for the rain...
He Said: It depends on what the anticipation will be. We prefer to always work outside. If it's late in the week and the forecast says rain, we'll practice outside if there's rain. We practiced indoors on Monday.
We Say: Interesting question, would like to think they'll be working with a wet football a lot this week.
On kick return position...
He Said: I have faith in Zuber. He's caught 100 kickoffs and punts back there. He didn't do well the other day, put one on the ground in both kick and punt returns, but I still trust him. I still have faith in him back there.
We Say: Good to hear the faith expressed in Zuber, who's certainly K-State's best return option at the moment and likely needs to stay back there.
Eli Walker looks like a heat-sinking missile out there, can you talk about how good he's been?
He Said: He's really taken it upon himself to learn the game, to become more knowledgeable. It's helped enhance his ability to play faster and how he has.
We Say: Walker has been very good this year, for sure, and it's nice to see him being used on the field.
On the close losses and where the team is mentally...
He Said: That's always the concern, but if you have competitive young guys who care and have a never say die attitude, things will work out and continue to get better. I trust that our players have that kind of approach.
We Say: A lot of confidence expressed in his team today, really a similar message to what we heard after the game in Waco Saturday. Much more upbeat tone, however.
Will Alex Delton be available Saturday?
He Said: I don't know.
***Note, he also said Denzel Goolsby is more or less expected to play but could provide no updates on Blake Lynch or Elijah Sullivan.
We Say: Glad it was asked, we don't know either, at this moment, if Delton will play.
Do you remember if you recruited Tevin Jenkins, starting OSU lineman from Topeka?
He Said: I don't recall.
We say: Can't remember 'em all.
On quarterbacks, would you play John Holcombe?
He Said: We've given some thought to that, and we've given John some opportunity to work in that capacity, but that's learning an awful lot in a short period of time. He's physically very, very capable of what we're doing. But there's a lot that goes on in a short period of time, and it takes some time to get acclimated to.
We Say: All very fair, and a good question, but perhaps they'd consider trying to find a package or two he can be successful in while trying to have him help the team and keep other quarterbacks more healthy by avoiding a few hits, perhaps in short yardage situations? For a reference of how close Holcombe is or isn't to playing, he wasn't on the trip to Waco last week despite Delton being unavailable.
